Archive - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

JAPAN

Jun 8, 2016

Google, ANA top workplace list for millennials; work-life balance also important: survey

By Beatrice Thomas

Global internet giant Google, along with local firms All Nippon Airways and Toyota Motor Corp., have emerged as the ideal workplaces for Japanese millennial talent, according to a new survey that has spotlighted the nation's shifting work culture.

JAPAN

Jun 8, 2016

Android version of literary giant Natsume Soseki to return to alma mater to lecture

By Tomoko Otake

An android version of the noted scribe is slated to visit Nishogakusha University next year and deliver lectures.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jun 8, 2016

Chinese fighter jet makes 'unsafe' intercept of U.S. spy plane over East China Sea

By Jesse Johnson

A Chinese fighter jet made an "unsafe" intercept of a U.S. spy plane Tuesday in international airspace over the East China Sea, the U.S. Pacific Command said Wednesday.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jun 8, 2016

Beijing says offer of talks over South China Sea fell on deaf ears in Manila

By Alastair Wanklyn

China on Wednesday accused the Philippines of ignoring its offer to set up a bilateral talks mechanism on maritime affairs, shortly before an international tribunal is expected to rule on Chinese claims in the South China Sea.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jun 8, 2016

North Korea restarts plutonium production for nuclear bombs: U.S. official

By Matt Spetalnick

North Korea has restarted production of plutonium fuel, a senior U.S. State Department official said Tuesday, showing that it plans to pursue its nuclear weapons program in defiance of international sanctions.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jun 8, 2016

Chinese border region requires travelers to submit DNA samples as Ramadan begins

A sensitive border region in China's violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang has begun asking applicants for travel documents to provide DNA samples, fingerprints and voiceprints — rules released just ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jun 8, 2016

China may build seabed 'space station' to help hunt for minerals in South China Sea

China is speeding up efforts to design and build a manned deep-sea platform to help it hunt for minerals in the South China Sea, one that may also serve a military purpose in the disputed waters.

WORLD / Politics

Jun 8, 2016

China says most wanted corruption suspect returned of own accord from Canada

A man on China's list of 100 most wanted corruption suspects abroad has voluntarily returned to China from Canada where he fled in 2011, the government said Wednesday, as Beijing keeps up the pressure to return such people to the country.

WORLD / Politics

Jun 8, 2016

With California win, Clinton claims historic victory in Democratic primary

Hillary Clinton celebrated her triumph as the first woman to lead a major party in a race for the White House, scoring big wins in California and New Jersey to cement her grip on the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

WORLD / Politics

Jun 8, 2016

Clinton seizes historic role as female presidential nominee as Trump campaign hits new low

By Margaret Talev

If Hillary Clinton's best argument for unifying Democrats and winning the White House is Donald Trump, then she picked a good week to clinch the nomination.

WORLD

Jun 8, 2016

Middle East conflicts drive increase in index of global violence

The world has become increasingly violent, with deaths from conflict at a 25-year high, terrorist attacks at an all-time high and more people displaced than at any time since World War II, the 2016 Global Peace Index showed Wednesday.

WORLD

Jun 8, 2016

Drones emerge from shadows to become key cog in the U.S. war machine

When U.S. drones obliterated a car carrying Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour last month, it was the kind of targeted killing that unmanned aircraft are best known for.

BUSINESS / Companies

Jun 8, 2016

Suzuki to step down as CEO, Honda to quit over fuel-testing scandal

By Kazuaki Nagata

Suzuki Motor Corp. announces Osamu Suzuki will step down as CEO later this month but will continue as the firm's chairman.

BUSINESS / Companies

Jun 8, 2016

Japan's biggest bank may cease underwriting JGB auctions as negative rates bite

The main lending unit of MUFG says it may quit as one of the 22 primary dealers that underwrite government bond auctions.

BUSINESS

Jun 8, 2016

DP urges BOJ to abandon negative interest rates

By Isabel Reynolds

The Bank of Japan should ditch its negative interest rate policy because it is spreading unease among savers and small companies, the main opposition party said a month ahead of an Upper House election.

BUSINESS / Economy

Jun 8, 2016

Quarterly GDP is revised up, showing 1.9% growth

The economy grew slightly more than initially reported for the first quarter, helped by a fractional revision in private consumption and business investment that dropped less than first thought.

BUSINESS

Jun 8, 2016

Obama, Modi praise prep work on six-reactor deal in India

U.S. President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday welcomed the start of preparatory work on six nuclear reactors in India, a key step in closing the first deal stemming from a U.S.-India civil nuclear accord struck over a decade ago.

EDITORIALS

Jun 8, 2016

A new threat to the WTO

The U.S. launches a potentially dangerous challenge to the reappointment of a World Trade Organization judge.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Jun 8, 2016

Danger in Asia's choppy seas

By William Pesek

China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea are raising the risks of confrontation with its neighbors.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 8, 2016

While the U.S. looks away, Iran fills a void in Iraq

By Mohamad Bazzi

Without committing far more U.S. troops and resources, there is little Washington can do little to counter Iranian power in Iraq.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 8, 2016

Beijing's actions speak louder than its words

By Frank Ching

Given Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's attempt to stifle the Canadian press, how credible is China's latest pledge to protect human rights?

SOCCER

Jun 8, 2016

Nigerian soccer icon Keshi dies at 54

Former Nigeria defender Stephen Keshi, who won the African Nations Cup as both a player and a coach, died of a suspected heart attack on Wednesday, the country's soccer association has confirmed.

BASKETBALL

Jun 8, 2016

Japan names provisional hoop squad with Olympic qualifying looming

By Kaz Nagatsuka

With a month to go until Olympic qualifying in Belgrade, the provisional Japan men's national basketball team entered its third training camp at Tokyo's National Training Center on Wednesday.

MORE SPORTS

Jun 8, 2016

Commissioner Goodell alive, well but NFL Twitter account suffered hack, false tweet

The National Football League's Twitter account was hacked on Tuesday and a false tweet was sent that Commissioner Roger Goodell had died, an NFL spokesman said on his Twitter account.

CULTURE / Film

Jun 8, 2016

The topic of AI always raises HAL and more

By Giovanni Fazio

An astronaut in deep space finishes up some repairs to the parabolic antenna on his spacecraft's exterior. Through his helmet's microphone, he commands the ship's controlling supercomputer, HAL 9000, "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." A second later he gets a calm, cold response in his helmet: "I'm sorry,...

CULTURE / Film

Jun 8, 2016

'The Kodai Family': A daydream believer and her mind-reading prince

By Mark Schilling

Doesn't everybody want somebody who understands their true inner self? For some, it's a spouse, for others, a friend; for others still, it's Mom. Some, however — and not all under the age of 5 — have this meeting of minds and hearts with a figment of their imaginations.

CULTURE / Film

Jun 8, 2016

'Money Monster': Jodie Foster's thrilling investment

By Kaori Shoji

Money is the new sex at the movies. Actually, if we're honest, maybe it was also the old sex. Whatever — in our overly consumerist society, money is on everyone's mind and more filmmakers are discovering the excitement that a stock chart can generate.

CULTURE / Film

Jun 8, 2016

'Ex Machina': When the machine has its own ghost

By Giovanni Fazio

When the histories are written years from now, our era will be defined by information technology in much the same way that the 1960s were defined by rock 'n' roll and social protest, or in the U.S., the '20s by Prohibition. People will look back with bewilderment at images of us — like we do at those...

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Jun 8, 2016

'Girls' just wanna have fun in Japan

By Mark Thompson

"Girls," an Emmy award-winning HBO series, focuses on a quartet of women in their early 20s who are trying to — surprise, surprise — figure out what they want to do with their lives. Like its outspoken creator — the intellectual "It Girl" Lena Dunham — "Girls" is polarizing: You either get it...

COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE

Jun 8, 2016

Is the Eiken doing Japan's English learners more harm than good?

By Hans Karlsson

Critics argue that the Eiken proficiency exams focus too heavily on vocabulary, grammar and the written word at the expense of fluency.

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Jun 8, 2016

Views from Tokyo students: How will you decide how to vote in next month's election?

By Mark Buckton

Hosei University students about the issues that could determine how they vote in July's House of Councilors election, the first in which Japanese 18- and 19-year-olds will be able to cast ballots.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports